Including Burgess while snubbing Armitage and Abendanon is a contradiction, says Dewi Morris

Dewi Morris says picking Sam Burgess while excluding those who play in France is a double standard...

We don’t want to lose our heads because there are going to be 19 players dropped from England's World Cup training squad, but I’m amazed to see Sam Burgess's name in there.

I wasn’t expecting Lancaster to pick Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon; he made his views on those two known months ago, and as a principled man I figured he would stand by his views and exclude them.

What interests me though, is why Burgess' inclusion is seen so differently. He’s come into the sport with no experience of the game of rugby union, and while I admire how quickly he has learned the ins and outs of the sport - and think he has unquestionable talent - I don’t think he’s quite learned the game well enough in time for the World Cup. To include him, in my opinion, would be a mistake right now.

His selection flies in the face of the rest of the squad as well as Lancaster’s reasons for picking them.

My reasoning isn’t just based on Burgess himself, but also on those who miss out due to his inclusion. The Exeter pair David Ewers and Thomas Waldrom have been monumental in what has been the best showing by the Chiefs since joining the Premiership in 2010.

Waldrom was top try scorer, but it’s the basics that these two do – away from the ball – that warranted the inclusion of one of them ahead of an untested Burgess.

Potential

Not many teams will arrive at the World Cup with a player who hasn’t yet decided if he’s in the backs or the forwards. Burgess is a better flanker than he is a centre, but for me he’s not even the best blindside flank in Bath.

When he played for England Saxons he looked out of place. Again, this isn’t an attack on him as a player; I think he has the potential to be a big part of England’s future, but I haven’t seen enough from him yet to surrender to Lancaster’s views on him in the England set-up.

If you look at Lancaster’s squad he has rewarded a number of players for good form. The likes of Chris Ashton and David Strettle have been given a chance in the squad due to their performances for Saracens, while Nick Easter and Danny Cipriani are once again in contention after their Six Nations return following respective spells away from the international set-up.

However, in Burgess you have the opposite – an unproven player who hasn’t yet hit the form he showed in rugby league. His selection flies in the face of the rest of the squad as well as Lancaster’s reasons for picking them.

Aggrieved

There isn't anything to say that Burgess will be playing at blindside, and therefore it may seem premature to point to those who have missed out because of him, but the Exeter loose forwards stand out for me as the key ommissions due to the presence of Burgess.

Waldrom will feel slightly aggrieved, as will his coaches, but the real misfortune has been suffered by Ewers as far as I'm concerned. He’s a big lump who can carry, offload, smash and tackle. He’s got international pedigree stamped on him and this was his chance to be a part of the squad to begin his journey with England.

It’s tough to know exactly where Burgess will play for England, if at all. He may yet not make the final 31-man squad, but even if he doesn’t, I think that England have missed a trick by including him in this training squad at the expense of a proven England hopeful like Ewers. It seems to be special treatment for Burgess when it’s not the case for Armitage and Abendanon, which I feel is the wrong approach from Lancaster and his coaches.